title: Role-taking ability and social behavior in deaf school children.
abstract: This study assessed the relationship between role-taking skill and social-emotional adjustment in deaf children. Twenty-three prelingually deafened boys and girls between 7 and 14 years of age were administered a role-taking task, surreptitious behavioral measures of helping and altruism, and a measure of nonverbal intelligence. In addition, two professionals experienced in working with deaf children rated the social and emotional adjustment, language/communication skills and role-taking ability of the participants. Performance on the role-taking task correlated positively with ratings of emotional adjustment, self-image, communicative effectiveness and role-taking skill. Role-taking performance, however, was not reliably related to any of the measures of social behavior. The study also considered several factors which may account for the apparent independence of role-taking and social behavior.
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Cates
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Shontz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D003638:Deafness / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012381:Role Playing; D012917:Social Adjustment